Mormons for ERA photograph collection, 1977-1983

Overview of the Collection

Creator

Mormons
for ERA.

Title

Mormons for ERA photograph collection

Dates

1977-1983 (inclusive)

19771983

Quantity

1 box, (0.25 linear ft. )

Collection Number

USU_P0144

Summary

122 photographs and 81 negatives chronicling the
activities of the Mormons for ERA from 1977 to 1983. Included in the collection is the
ERA Mother's Day March in 1980 and the White House demonstrations in August 1981 and
September 1982. Also included are photographs depicting the 20th anniversary of the
Martin Luther King March and the plane tow during the LDS General Conference in October
1983.

Alice Allred was born in South Dakota but spent her early years as an active Mormon
growing up in Texas in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Her father was transferred to
Washington, D.C. during the summer of 1954. She attended Brigham Young University and
received her B.S. degree in Journalism. During her time at BYU she became friends with
Maida Rust Withers and Hazel Davis Rigby (later to be founding members of Mormons for
ERA).

Allred worked for 12 years in Washington D.C. as a trade and professional editor. After
having young children, she started to work from home. For the next five years, she
produced and wrote articles for Dialogue magazine. She also wrote numerous articles for
Sunstone magazine, was twice an Arlington delegate to the Virginia Democratic
Convention, volunteered for Arlingtonians for a Better County, a member of the PTA, a
leader for Girl Scouts, and worked for the LDS Church public communications department.

Allred had long supported the Equal Rights Amendment, and in 1975 the issues of ERA
began to heat up. With the increasing anti-ERA activity from conservative groups,
including the LDS Church (which formally opposed ERA on Oct. 22, 1976), Allred's friends
from BYU, Maida Rust Withers and Hazel Davis Rigby, along with Teddie Wood and Soina
Johnson co-founded Mormons for ERA in 1978.

Allred did a great deal of background work with Mormons for ERA. She organized and gave
background information to the media about the organization and their activities,
including their lobbying efforts, their views on the complexities of ERA issues, and
their public debates on ERA issues. She also developed press kits that were given to the
media. This proved to be an invaluable task once the media coverage exploded when the
Mormon Church excommunicated Sonia Johnson on December 5, 1979.

On December 11, 1982 Alice Allred Pottmyer succeeded Sonia Johnson as president of
Mormons for ERA and took over the newsletter. She functioned as president until 1987
when funds and interest began to diminish.

Hazel Davis Rigby

Hazel Davis grew up in Salem, Utah and was an active member of the Mormon community. She
attended Brigham Young University with childhood friend Maida Rust (Withers). Davis
received her B.A. from BYU and then went on to receive her M.A. from Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Hazel Davis grew up in Salem, Utah and was an active member of the Mormon community. She
attended Brigham Young University with childhood friend Maida Rust (Withers). Davis
received her B.A. from BYU and then went on to receive her M.A. from Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Davis served as the treasurer for the organization. In November of 1980, Mormons for ERA
held a demonstration in front of the Washington Temple in Washington State. A scuffle
erupted between the demonstrators and anti-ERA supporters. Subsequently, the police were
called and Davis was one of several demonstrators who were arrested. In the years
following, she played other important roles in Mormons for ERA activities and
development.

Maida Rust Withers

Maida Rust was born October 13, 1936 in Kanab, Utah, and was the youngest of eight
children. She was raised in Salem Utah, as a member of the LDS Church from which she was
a sixth generation pioneer descendant. She graduated from Spanish Fork High School in
1954, and then attended Brigham Young University where she received her B.S. in Music
and Dance in 1958. She completed her M.A. in Dance from the University of Utah.

Withers began her teaching career at Purdue University. In 1963, she took a teaching
position at Howard University for one year. During that time she marched with the other
Faculty members (she being the only white female faculty) to the Lincoln Memorial, where
Martin Luther King was giving a speech.

At the end of 1963, she accepted a position in the Department of Theater and Dance as an
Associate Professor at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. During her
career at George Washington University, she directed the M.F.A. dance program, taught
advanced dance, dance and movement improvisation, choreography, and performance art
theory. She also served on the Board of Directors of Washington Projects for the Arts
for eight years, and served a three year term on the Kennedy Center Education Committee.
In 1974 Withers founded the critically acclaimed dance troupe Maida Withers Dance
Construction Company.

During the early seventies, she became increasingly involved in the social and political
issues of the Vietnam war and the Civil Rights movement. In 1975, the issues of the
Equal Rights Amendment began to heat up. It was during this year that Maida Rust Withers
and one of her friends, Teddie Wood became active participants in the pro-ERA movement.

During the 80's Wither's focus on social reform turned to environmental awareness. The
social issues of the past and her activism in the Equal Rights movement prepared her for
her passionate environmental activism. In 1992, she and her dance troupe participated
with other international artists for ecology at the United Nation's Conference on
Environment and Development. Withers continues to tour nationally and internationally
with her dance company and uses dance as interpretive means for environmental awareness.
She has created over 35 distinctive works for the stage and video, and subsequently has
received a myriad of prestigious awards and accolades from her peers, critics, and the
public.

More details concerning the history of Mormons for ERA and bios of Allred, Rigby and
Withers, are also available in COLL MSS 225.

This collection of photographs chronicle the activities of the Mormons for ERA from 1977
to 1983. Included in the collection is the ERA March in 1980 and the White House
demonstrations in August 1981 and September 1982. Also included are photographs
depicting the 20th anniversary of the Martin Luther King March and the plane tow during
the LDS General Conference in October 1983. The collection consists of 122 images with
81 negatives housed in one acid-free box.

The collection is divided between photographs donated by the three women heading the
organization. The photographs are primarily color prints with several black and white
photographs. Negatives are available for the prints of the White House demonstration in
1981 and the plane tow in 1983. Note: The description of the photographs in folders 1-2
and 5-7 are quotes written by Alice Pottmyer on the back of the prints.

Restrictions on Use

Copyright

It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission to publish from the owner of
the copyright (the institution, the creator of the record, the author or his/her
transferees, heirs, legates, or literary executors). The user agrees to indemnify and
hold harmless the Utah State University Libraries, its officers, employees, and agents
from and against all claims made by any person asserting that he or she is an owner of
copyright.

Permission to publish material from the Mormons for ERA photograph collection must
be obtained from the Special Collections Photograph Curator and/or the Special Collections
Department Head.

Preferred Citation

Arrangement

Organized into subcollections from three influentual members of the organization: Alice
Allred Pottmyer, Hazel Davis Rigby, and Maida Rust Withers.

Sponsor

Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant,
2007-2008

Acquisition Information

Alice Allred Pottmyer, Hazel Davis Rigby, and Maida Rust Withers donated this collection
to Utah State University Special Collections and Archives on November 21, 1996. The
photographs in this collection were taken from the Mormons for ERA manuscript
collection.

Processing Note

Register completed by Sarah Elliott, May 1998 and revised by Jessica Alexander, December
2006.